Created Equally
by Cheryl W
Summary: Almost Human Universe: When Kirk, an old friend of Kennex's comes back into town for a deadly robbery case, Dorian has his hands full trying to keep Kennex in one piece and struggling to accept that all friends, synthetic soul or real, are not created equally. No Slash.
1. Chapter 1: Glory Days

Created Equally

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own Almost Human or Star Trek or any rights to the television show or movie, nor am I making any profit from this story.

Summary: When Kirk, an old friend of Kennex's comes back into town for a deadly robbery case, Dorian has his hands full trying to keep Kennex in one piece and struggling to accept that all friends, synthetic soul or real, are not created equally. No Slash.

Author's Note: This story is set wholly in the Almost Human world and the only Star Trek character making an appearance will be Jim Kirk, who is a cop and Kennex's best friend since boyhood. I'm not sure I have Kirk down ok but I hope you give me some leeway since I've uprooted him from the universe we know him from and dropped him into this one. And he and Dorian get along as well as he and the 2009 movie Spock did in the beginning…like… not at all.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Chapter 1: Glory Days

ANANAHAHAHAHAHAH

It takes Dorian a few steps to realize John Kennex is no longer at his side, has stopped, leaving him to navigate down the stairs of the squad room solo. Turning back to his partner, the synthetic questioned with concern, "John what's…" but cut off as he noted where John's eyes were drawn, or more specifically, to whom John's eyes were drawn to. Namely to a blond haired blue eyed man, near John's age and athletic build, who was sitting in John's chair, laughing and flirting with Detective Valerie Stahl.

Tensing, fearing the man represented a threat to his partner, Dorian stepped instinctively in front of Kennex, but the next moment, John passed him on the stairs and made a beeline for the stranger in their midst.

Smiling widely, John merrily warned Stahl, "Whatever he's telling you, it's a lie," but his eyes weren't on the beautiful detective but fixed on their visitor.

Turning at the sound of John's voice, the blond haired man broke into a joyous smile and he crossed the room to engulf John into a robust hug. Pulling back but keeping a hand on John's shoulder, the visitor taunted Kennex, "I only lied to make you sound better." To Stahl, the man drawled with charm, "But really he's not even a close second to me. One night on the town with me and you'll forget Kennex's first name."

"If she lowers her standards and goes out with you, she'll wish she _could_ forget a lot more than my name," John volleyed back, enjoyed his friend's theatrical gesture of putting his hand to his heart as if in pain.

"You mortally wound me, Kennex!"

Taking that as her opening to leave, Stahl teased, "I'll leave you two alone so you can revel in your bromance," winking at John as she returned to her desk.

By this time, Dorian had gained John's side and searched face rec to determine John's friend was James T. Kirk, a detective from Philadelphia who had once been a member of their precinct. A quick perusal of his record noted both accolades and reprimands.

With Stahl's departure, the friends shut out the rest of the squad room occupants and sized each other up after their months apart. Putting a companionable hand to John's face, Kirk happily observed, "Buddy, you look great." But a moment later, a worried crease marred his forehead as he grilled, "How's the leg? Your lungs working like they're supposed to?"

With Detective Kirk's question, Dorian immediately scanned John, paid close attention to his lung functions, realized that the inconsistencies he had detected before now for what they were..a reconstruction, probably from the wounds John had suffered in the Insyndicate raid. A wound this Kirk knew about and was seemingly worried about its effect on John.

John responded to Kirk's inquiry with a smirk. "My patched up lungs are better than yours after all the cigarettes you stole and smoked when we were kids."

"Half of which you puffed on, if I remember right…and I do," Kirk shot back with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.

John didn't dispute the man's accusation, instead patted the man on the chest. "Great to see you, Jim. So, is this you finally coming to visit me or did a case bring you back to town?"

"Both. What can I say? I'm an overachiever." Kirk turned as he sensed someone was approaching, daring to encroach on their "bromance" as Stahl had called it. But he gave another show of his thousand watt smile as Captain Sandra Maldonado joined them.

"Don't tell me I have to separate you two already," she greeted, a ready smile turning up her lips.

"Here's the only superior officers I've ever wanted to make a pass at. Sandra, you're a sight for sore eyes." Then Kirk gave her a light, quick hug.

Dorian, still waiting to be introduced…or even noticed, decided to take things into his own hands since John was too enthralled with his friend's mere presence. Offering his hand to Detective Kirk, he said, "Hello, I'm Dorian."

Though Kirk didn't take his hand, he did smile. "The relic synthetic. I heard you had the misfortune to be teamed with Kennex."

Internally wincing at not only the "relic" but the "synthetic" label, Dorian didn't get a chance to reply before John spoke.

"Misfortune?! He's thanking his lucky stars every day that he gets to work with someone of my caliber…just like you're so grateful that I took pity on your sorry butt and befriended you," John joked.

"Wait, who befriended who?" Kirk amicably challenged as he dropped his arm over Kennex's shoulder and begin to steer his friend up the stairs and out of the squad room.

Torn between following John and staying in the squad room, Dorian looked to the Captain for some guidance.

Her tone amused instead of reprimanding for John's sudden departure, the Captain suggested, "We won't see those two again until morning. You might as well confer with Detective Kirk's MX on the case so at least two members of this joint task force will be working this afternoon."

"Joint task force? So he is here for a case, one which John and I will be working on with him?" Dorian asked, though he was quite capable of deductive reasoning.

"That's correct. The Dynamic Duo is back in action….I hate to see how many reprimands they wrack up this time." Again there was that lilt of amusement instead of reprimand in the Captain's words before she headed back to her office.

"Dynamic Duo," Dorian quietly repeated, didn't know why the label managed to increase the unfamiliar emotion that began stirring in him the second John and Kirk reunited so amicably. And though his research told him what he was feeling was labeled 'jealousy', he denied it. He wasn't jealous of the affectionate and strong friendship John had with the other detective. So what if John didn't see him as a friend, if he only spent time with him on work days, when he was required to. '_I wasn't designed to be anyone's friend. I was designed to be their partner, to protect my human partner.' _

For the first time since he had been reawakened, Dorian felt unsure of himself, of his purpose. Being a cop had always exceeded his expectations for his life … but now, being a friend, being John's friend like Kirk was, that was something he allowed himself to want. '_You can feel and you can even want friendship, but none of that changes the fact that you're still just a machine. You can't forget that…and John never will._'

Because John was out there with his _friend,_ doing all the things a synthetic couldn't do: drinking, eating, and remembering the good times they shared all their lives because their memories were their own, John and Kirk's. Their memories weren't wiped away at someone's whim, weren't reset because of distrust.

The thought of his time of being partnered with John someday being wiped from his memory made Dorian's circuits ache with pain. Suddenly, he understood John's decision to seek out a recollectionist, to risk his own life to snatch back memories that were elusive to him, memories that were his, made him who he was.

Dorian knew that he would risk his life and more if it meant keeping his memories of his and John's partnership, of a time when he deemed a human his friend. Even if those feelings would never truly be reciprocated.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

McQuade's bar was just starting to hum with activity, its usual patrons of cops just now starting to trickle in as their shifts ended. Off in a corner booth, Kennex and Kirk each nursed a Burbon. Kennex turned their conversation away from how nothing had changed about the neighborhood or the bar since Kirk's departure seven months ago with "So this case…"

But Kirk raised his hands. "Whoa. Whoa. Let's slow down. I haven't grabbed a drink with you in….years."

John looked away from his friend and his jaw flexed a moment before he refocused on Kirk. "Right…two nights before the raid. You, me…Pelham," John recalled, the name of his dead partner coming out bitter.

Leaning across the table, Kirk sank his gaze into John's. "His death was not your fault. Raids go sideways without warning…."

"Anna," John cut him off, voice rough, eyes shifting from sorrowfully remorse to full on guilt. "She was Insydicate, bugged my apartment, knew we were coming." Here he gave a harsh snort. "She was _there_. Threw the bomb at my feet….correction, at that point it was _foot_, singular."

"What?!" Kirk exclaimed, face paling at the new information, at the additional but unwarranted guilt it would coil around his friend's soul. "When did all this get discovered? You woke up a blank slate."

"Recollectionist helped me unbury some memories," John supplied, almost started when Kirk's hand shot out and slammed his forearm down, pinning it to the table, seared him with his patent, I'm-so-pissed-I'm-ready-to-start-swinging high voltage glare.

"Recollectionist?! Are you out of your mind?" Jim snarled before he answered his own question. "Wait, of course you are." Tightening his already bruising grip on his friend's arm, he fought down the urge to clock Kennex across the mouth, instead let the tone of his voice convey his indignant protest to his friend's actions. "They could have scrambled your brain, especially with the trauma you suffered." Hoped the 'idoit' was understood, was if the sudden anger that flared in John's eyes was any indication.

"It got me answers! Answers I needed!"

"What it will get you, in the long run, is dead!" Kirk hissed, though he wanted to bellow it across the cityscape. Pointing at his friend with reprimand, he decreed, "You're done messing with that crap, you hear me. Done!"

Kennex ripped his arm free of Kirk's hold. "Now you're starting to sound like Dorian! It's my life, my memories, my risk! I decide if it's worth it."

But something derailed Kirk's line of thought. "Wait, you're telling me the DRN knows you went to a recollectionist?! A black market doctor?! And he didn't report it? That's…that's… how? As your partner he's programed to …"

"He's not an MX! Thank God. He has free will and….a bleeding heart," Kennex said with a smirk, remembered how Dorian had thrown his own caustic label back at him after he saved his life when the recollectionist thing went a little off the rails. Just a smidgeon.

Struggling to put together the differences between the DNR that his best friend was partnered with and an MX, Kirk concluded with some measure of surprise, "He covered for you."

"Yeah, more than once," John conceded, taking a casual sip of his Burban so he didn't smile, was glad Dorian wasn't there to gloat over his confession…and the praise.

Slumping back against the bench seat, Kirk stammered, "Ok…well… not what I expected. But now I'm _pissed_ that he covered for you. He should have ratted you out just to ensure you didn't go back to the recollectionist."

Holding his friend's gaze, John calmly asked, "That what you would have done? Report me?" already knowing the answer.

Kirk's face scrunched up in indignation. "No! Course not. I woulda slammed your head against a wall to knock some sense into you."

John smiled. "That's the James Kirk I know and love."

Not willing to crumble under his friend's warm regard, Kirk threatened, "I'll do it now, slam your head against a wall unless you promise me you're done risking the few brain cells that ever worked in that coiffed head of yours. So you're done, right?"

His mouth morphing into a tight line, John lowly replied, "You want me to lie to you?"

"No! I want you to not end up being a vegetable!" Jim emotionally shot back but saw his outburst was just rolling off John's back.

"Stop with the mom routine already," John snapped.

And Kirk knew that was as far as he could push John, that to say any more would have his friend storming off…and he didn't want that. Wanted whatever time he could spend with his friend to be with them on good terms. So he swallowed down the rest of the liquor in his glass, snagged John's glass and emptied it too before he rejoined with, "So the DRN…."

"Dorian," John instinctively corrected.

"Ok, _Dorian,"_ Jim drawled out to stress his over-politeness to adhere to John's suggestion. "He's ok to work with?"

"Yeah, actually he is," Kennex's surprise at his own statement peeking through.

But Kirk needed a little more convincing before he felt better about the DNR. "Watches your back? I don't mean about not ratting you out but…you know, when the crap is hitting the fan?" Because they both knew that an MX had left Pulham and in turn, Kennex to die. Had cared more about analyzing _statistics_ of survival than bothering to actually _facilitate_ the survival of two of his "teammembers", if a robot could even think of humans as teammembers.

Thinking of all the times Dorian had gone against protocol at his request, had been there in the nick of time to save his life, had unprotestingly let his gut instinct lead them and followed him into the line of fire, John earnestly announced, "I trust him with my life, Jim."

Honestly taken aback at his friend's declaration, Kirk had to fight down a pang of jealousy. He had been gone only a few months and this …this machine had somehow earned John's trust when Jim didn't think his friend would ever trust anyone else again like he had before the raid. Not even him. "Ok, that's…good," he croaked out, hated that John was giving him a confused look at his less than locked down emotions. Consciously he changed the subject. "So the case I'm working on, it's a regular Bonnie & Clyde shtick. They do high end robberies and seem to enjoy taking lives. Took down three jewelry stores and two banks in Philly with the help of synthetic thugs then they blew town…but not before leaving a Swiss cheesed synthetic that a guard took out at one of the robberies. We found blue prints in the snythetic's memory core."

John easily put the piece together. "Blue prints of a building from our fair city here. Which is why you're here to assist me in taking them down."

"Assist you?! You're my assistant. It's my lead, my case," Jim protested, as John knew he would.

"No way, Kemosobe. My city, my case," John drawled, enjoyed yanking Jim's chain.

"Dream on!" Jim shot back which John childishly retorted back with, "You dream on," But their scowls broke into chuckles a second later, which lead to another round of drinks..and then another.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

"Do we need to discuss a hangover remedy," Dorian greeted John's arrival the next morning from his position in John's chair in the squad room.

"Nope. If Rudy let you out early this morning for good behavior…boy, he doesn't know you," John remarked, knew he wasn't running late that morning, even though he had wanted to stay in bed until his headache had simmered down to a dull roar.

"You're the only one that brings bad behavior out of me," Dorian retorted with a smirk

Jerking his thumb to indicate Dorian should vacate his chair, John sank into it the second it was available. "No. You punched Richard, the whole squad saw you do it."

"Which you know and the squad knows that that only happened because I was suffering mood swings due to a low charge."

"Yeah, all psychopaths have excuses," John said before he mimicked in a high pitched squeak, "My mom made me do it, my ex-girlfriend shouldn't have rejected me…I have a low charge. The typical whinings of the criminals today."

Dorian smirked, knew that the bantering going on right then, it was a friendship thing. No one could convince him otherwise. But he nearly groaned when the one person who probably could turn his certainty to dust sauntered into the squad room at that moment, bearing not an ounce of the haggardness Kennex was sporting for their joint night on the town.

"Hello all," Kirk jovially greeted the squad at large. Dorian didn't miss that the females in the room batted their eyes at Kirk and gave him bashful smiles and the men offered up a nod or, if they were on the phone, a manly wave or salute. Then Mr. Congeniality crossed to Kennex…and handed him a coffee.

"French roast. From that coffee joint on 1st that you love but are too cheap to splurge on. And it's super hot like you like it." Jim explained, enjoyed John's look of bliss at his first slip.

"You are still the man," John praised, taking another heavenly taste of the coffee.

Dorian bristled at John's side, not only at having been upstaged in his "coffee warmer" status but that John said "man"…a phrase he hated Dorian to use, ever. Like it was a familiarity that wasn't permitted. '_Apparently not between me and him but him and his buddy here…all the rage_,' Dorian grumbled in his head.

"Yes, I am the man and don't you forget it," Jim shot back to John before hopping onto the side of John's desk. "So, we have five possible targets to stake out…."

Dorian took that as his opening. "Actually, I have a conceivable way for us to track your perps _before_ they are in the middle of their robbery."

"Rrreeeaaalllly," Kirk drawled mockingly. Seeing Dorian's jaw clench in anger, he chuckled, "Come on, don't be pissed. Share with the class."

Noting that John was steadily watching him, waiting for him to be a contributing member of their team, Dorian pocketed his frustration and, turning to his partner, alighted _John_ on his plan, "Since the five blueprints were obtained from one of the perps synthetic which was destroyed in a shoot out…."

"Awww, guess my MX and your hard drive were sweet talking each other last night," Kirk interjected with a cocky smile, which had Dorian spinning to face him, radiating anger.

"I'm trying to help you! If you want me to stop…."

Kirk gave a dismissing wave as he lightly interjected, "Don't fry your circuits." To John he said in a mock whisper, "You forgot to mention his mood swings and pissiness around humans."

Knowingly encroaching on Kirk's personal space bubble, Dorian growled, "Not all humans…just rude, egotistical jerks."

But that jab only amused Kirk more. "Then no wonder you and John don't get along."

Dorian felt like Kirk had landed a physical blow…right through his synthetic soul. He and John did get along….didn't they? What had John told Kirk last night? That he was a burden? That he wished for an MX that didn't have "mood swings and pissiness".

Intervening, John gave Dorian a push back from Jim and stood between his two warring friends. "Can we please focus on the case. Dorian, what's your idea to track them? Something to do with the bot or the blueprints?"

Fighting down the urge to hurt Kirk like he had hurt him, Dorian instead met John's gaze, understood that John was asking for his insight, not Kirk's and that meant something. A lot, actually. "Both, but we'll need Rudy's help."

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

"Rudy, my man!" Kirk greeted as he sauntered into the lab, strode up to Ruby and hugged him.

Standing back at John's side, Dorian muttered under his breath, "Is there anyone he's not going to hug."

"He didn't hug you," John drolly pointed out, enjoyed Dorian's smirk.

"Small blessings," Dorian said, feeling some of his hurt fade at his bantering with John. But it was still hard to not roll his eyes as he witnessed Kirk absorbed in another happy reunion.

Giving Kirk a wide smile, Rudy gushed, "Jim, it's good to see you! Are you transferring back?" a load of hope in the question.

At the question, Jim shot John a self-conscious look, read his friend's sharp interest and knew that Sandra had kept her promise, hadn't told Kennex why he had transferred and had to stay gone. Then he was answering Rudy, hoped his regret didn't shine through his tone, "Nah, just visiting but I do need your brand of brilliance, buddy." He suddenly snapped his fingers and his MX stepped out from behind John and Dorian to come to his "partner's" side. Jerking a thumb back to his MX, Kirk explained,"Tin Can here downloaded a blueprint file for five buildings in town from a perp's bot and _Dorian _suspects this info was transferred to another bot first, might leave us a trail to another bot our prep has in his circus. You know...a bot version of a STD."

Though the bawdy comment wasn't unlike something Kennex would stay, it grated against Dorian's already shard nerves. It helped, though, when Rudy enthusiastically latched onto his idea, even shot him a proud look and gushed, "Great idea, Dorian," even as Rudy started to hook cords into the MX to start the tracking process.

As Rudy worked, Kirk leaned casually against a desk. "So how's your health, Rudy? You get that weird rash figured out you had a year ago?"

Pleased that _someone_ had listened when he talked, Rudy's head jerked up and he gave Kirk a full watt smile. "Yes, it wasn't…" but he shot John and Dorian an embarrassed glance before he dropped that part of his statement and returned his eyes to Kirk, "It was a reaction to the chemicals I was using to improve the picture function on the MXs. All cleared up now."

"Good, good. Here I thought it was cooties you picked up when you visited John in the hospital. They say the hospital, even with today's advances, is a cesspool of germs, latching onto your skin, your eyes…your immune system," Kirk said, missing John's consternation, but Dorian didn't.

"You visited John while he was in his coma?" Dorian asked of Rudy for John, knew the man was too shocked or embarrassed by Rudy's compassion to do it.

Kirk's eyes jumped to Kennex's. Reading the expression on his friend's face, Jim gently turned to Rudy who had shot an embarrassed look to Kennex before making the MX his total focus. "You never told him?"

Rudy shyly shook his head, but shot John another tentative look to gauge the man's disgust, surely thought the hardened police officer wouldn't have appreciated him seeing him at his weakest. But there wasn't anger in Kennex's eyes but a soft look of gratitude.

Throwing an arm around Rudy's shoulders, Kirk patted Rudy on the chest but held John's gaze, "This guy visited you every month in the hospital while you were playing Rip Van Winkle. Talked shop and shared his newest breakthroughs with you…which was so out of your IQ level, considering you don't know how to work your toaster without giving it a swift slam. Maybe that's why you seem a percentage smarter, your subconscious soaked up something Rudy said to you."

John still couldn't find words, had no idea anyone but Kirk had visited him in the hospital while he was in his coma.

Rudy's equipment binged and the scientist took that as a saving grace, slipped out from Kirk's companionable grasp and focused on the work at hand. Scrolling down the information on his computer, he smiled, "Yup, another bot was given the information before this one and I think….yes, there's its location." Turning in triumphant, he announced, "19034 Mercy Way."

Kirk hooted in triumphant. "Whoo hoo! Rudy, you got a heart of gold and a brain of pure genius." Ignored Dorian's mumbled, "Not like all this was my idea or anything." Clasping Rudy on the shoulder, Jim bade, "Take care of yourself and this guy," pointing to John.

"Sure thing," Rudy proudly promised, stunned to have Kirk charge him with John's well-being.

'_Sure, right, __Rudy__ will protect John. From what…his brain exploding from too much tech information_,' Dorian internally groused, felt a stab of regret when he realized that he was now angry at Rudy for no fault of the scientist's. Which made him only angrier at Kirk for making him turn on his friend. Because Rudy was his friend, no doubts…right? I mean, they did the bar scene together, played chess, surely only friends did that.

Dorian realized that he was caught up in his own thoughts when he didn't notice John had left his side, when a hand unexpectedly grabbed his elbow and gave him a tug, Kirk's hand. Yanking his arm from the man's touch, he glared at the detective for trying to manhandle him. But before he could verbally rail at Kirk, the man jerked his head to the left, had Dorian looking that way to see Kennex approaching Rudy. And he got it then, that he should leave the two men to talk. Without acknowledging Kirk's insight or presence, he stalked out of the room, knew Kirk was only a pace or two behind him but was certain the man was smirking that irritatingly cocky smirk of his at his back.

Seeing that Jim and Dorian had left him alone with Rudy, John came to Rudy's side as the man focused on the MX torn apart on his table. "Rudy…about what you did…"

Instead of raising his eyes to Kennex, Rudy seemed to hunker down more into himself, didn't want to know how much of a fool he had been, thinking John would feel anything but resentment for his intruding on him in his weakness, thinking they were anything more than workmates…and that they interacted only because John needed his tech know-how.

Reaching out, John put his hand on Rudy's shoulder, which finally earned him the other man's eye contact. "It means a lot that you visited me, that I wasn't alone."

Finally drawing in a breath, Rudy expelled it in a rush the next second, "I would have visited you when you woke up too but …they said you didn't want visitors."

John's jaw flexed a moment before he conceded, "Yeah, I was…." Struggled to find the right description besides despondent, suicidal, immersed in a homicidal rage, finally settled on, "not in a great frame of mind. Better for both of us that you stayed away." Because who knew the hurt he would have inflicted on Rudy if he offered up a good intentioned pep-talk.

Nodding in understanding, Rudy quietly stated, "Jim didn't stay away. Kept me apprised of your improvement." Didn't want John to think he was the only one, the greatest supporter of his, to be somehow oblivious to how consumed with concern Jim Kirk had been over him, how steadfast the other detective's loyalty and friendship was to John. Would always be.

John gave a bittersweet smile as memories popped into his head. "Yeah. Well, Kirk took a crapload of abuse from me. I don't know how many times I threw the guy out of my room and told him not to ever come back."

A tender smile turned up Rudy's lips. "But he wouldn't leave you…not until he knew you were gonna be ok."

Smiling and giving Rudy's shoulder a squeeze before he dropped his hand, John leaned close to Rudy and declared, "That's because he's a stubborn jerk. Later, Rudy."

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

"This is stupid, not calling in backup!" Dorian hissed, not for the first time as he crouched behind Kennex and Kirk at the corner of a building fifty yards from 19034 Mercy Way.

To Kennex, Kirk snapped, "He have a hearing problem?" before he looked over his shoulder at the DNR. "Like I said, ten times now, whenever we came upon them with a troop of MXs, they seem to know we're coming, and when we thought we had them cornered, they shut down the MXs in their path and slipped through our perimeters. I don't know how but they hack into the MXs, into our communications. So no Tin Can backup!"

"What about your MX?" Dorian shot back lowly, jabbing his finger over his shoulder to the MX hovering behind him.

"He's staying out here," Kirk imparted.

Which had Dorian exclaiming in a perfect human example of an emotional outburst, "What?! No, no way! Just us three against two heavily armed humans and two maybe three combat trained bots?! That's crazy."

Jim swiveled his look from Dorian to Kennex, a roguish light coming alive in his eyes. "Just like our old patrol days, right? Before bots were mandatory, it was just you and me. Man we cleaned house back then."

Kennex smiled at the memories of their glory days. "Tag teamed the bad guys like we did in football. Kennex and Kirk, the Dynamic Duo."

"There's that phrase again," Dorian bitterly said under his breath before he latched onto John's arm, swung his friend, ok, his partner around to face him. "We need backup, John. If not MXs, then Richard and Valerie."

But Kirk had turned too, made their two man huddle a three man one. "No, we can't waste anymore time. They hit their targets in the morning. MORNING," he repeated like Dorian was an imbecile, didn't know the word and that right now was that time of day. "They might walk out that door any moment now. We want the element of surprise, we don't want a shoot out in the streets like the OK Coral, we go now. Me and John through the front door and you hold at the back in case they rabbit."

"Hold at the back?! I'm not a doorman?! I'm a _cop_! I'm _his_ partner," Dorian hissed, pointing to Kennex as if who his partner was, was in question.

Kirk opened his mouth to retort back but Kennex snarled, "Whoa! You two stow it!' Pointing to the MX he ordered, "You stay here, we need you we'll call you in." Then he turned to Dorian. "Dorian, we don't know if they can hack you." At Dorian's flare of anger, he continued in a gentler voice, "You don't know that, right?"

Miffed, Dorian looked away a moment before he again met John's eyes, confessed, "No, but…"

John cut off his words. "Ok then you'll have our backs by cutting off their escape."

Dorian gave a disheartened nod. '_Not 'our' backs, John, 'yours'. You're the one I'm supposed to be protecting.'_ And it felt all manners of wrong ten minutes later when he left John's side, slipped to the back of the house at 19034 Mercy Way and waited there like a useless doorman.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Having watched Dorian slip around the house, John looked to Jim and his friend's no-nonsense nod of his head told him Kirk was in full-cop mode. Knowing he wouldn't want anyone else at his side on this operation besides Kirk, well no _human_, John ran forward in a low crouch toward the house's front door without trepidation, Jim pacing him. Noiselessly, they came onto the porch, exchanged silent communication and then Kirk sent his boot heel slamming the door in.

Charging first through the door, Kennex shouted, "Police, throw down your weapons!" his gun raised and scanning for targets in the living room and hallway before him. Could feel Kirk at his back, his breath measured and his stance holding until John waved him forward.

Passing John, Kirk aimed his gun up the empty stairs before pressing his back against the hallway wall. He shot Kennex a look and he knew they both sensed they weren't alone, that their targets were in the house, not willing to show themselves yet. Jerking his head to the closed room door to his left, Jim waited to move until John nodded his Ok before he kicked in the door, scanned the room and found it empty, was backing out of it when gunfire shattered the silence.

Armor piercing bullets from a rifle rained down through the ceiling, thunking into the carpet inches from John's right foot and consequently the space he was about to occupy the very next second. John stumbled backwards as the bullets seemed to follow him across the floor. His retreat had his back slamming into the wall beside the front door. Cornered. With an enraged cry, he dove right, did a roll across the floor and came up into a crouch in the living room even as Kirk sent bullets harmlessly into the ceiling, their velocity not great enough to penetrate the plaster, let alone take out the shooter.

Then Kirk did a short run, deftly vaulted over the staircase railing and started up the steps. But he was soon under fire from through the ceiling as the floorboards creaked under his boots and gave away his position. Recognizing a no win situation, he hopped over the railing and dropped into a crouch on the floor and then slammed his back into the opposite wall of the hallway, gun trained on the stairs in case their perps were brave enough to descend.

John couldn't get a direct line of sight of his friend, hoped he was ok, knew it the next second when he heard the man's voice coming through his comm. "So maybe backup wouldn't have been a mistake." But he heard amusement in his friend's tone. Kirk always was an adrenaline junkie.

"Come on, we got this," John assured. "Besides, I'd be pretty embarrassing now, bringing in your Tin Can and Dorian to save our butts," found himself smiling because he wasn't so different from Kirk. "I say we go on…" he never got to say 'three' because the wall behind him crumbled as a bot's fist rammed through it, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him through the wall, uncaring that human bones didn't tend to be strong enough to crumble walls in their wake.

Dragged through the wall in the opening like a rag doll, John tucked his gun under his arm and pointed it behind him, fired off some rounds. Though the bullets didn't drop the bot, it at least propelled him back a few steps, caused him to lose his hold on his human ragdoll. But when that hold broke, John couldn't gain his feet in time, ended up free falling to the ground, landed flat out on his back, the breath knocked from him. But he didn't need his breath to move, to raise his gun and sent a bullet through the bot's head.

Even as the bot was falling, Kennex sensed movement to his left, was swiveling his gun to the lush blonde woman who made up the Bonnie & Clyde duo but she already had a bead on him, was intent on putting a bullet through his forehead, was pulling the trigger seconds before he would be able to.

But even as John heard the report of the gun, Kirk cried out a "no!" and slammed into Bonnie, skewing her aim and taking her to the ground. John felt a searing burn across his neck like someone had lit a line of gasoline there. But he was struggling to sit up, fighting the pain and the blurry vision to zone in on Kirk. Kirk who was getting his butt kicked by the woman, who took a vicious elbow to his larynx and fell backwards, gasping for breath.

Even as the woman rolled right and aimed her gun at Kirk, Kennex was pulling the trigger. Watched her lifeless body topple over on top of Kirk the next moment. The Detective wasn't prepared to hear an enraged cry of despair and fury pierce the air or see their Bonnie's Clyde counterpart in the doorway, eyes wide on his fallen lover before he lethally advanced toward Kennex, rifle coming up, all set to exact his revenge.

Kennex's gun clicked on empty and somehow in the shuffle, Kirk's gun was on the floor, in the no man's land between the detectives. As the rifle sighted on his head, John began to accept that this wasn't a raid he was going to walk away from, not this time.

That was until Dorian ignored his orders and kicked in the back door, came stalking into the room like an avenging angel, firing mercilessly at Clyde, who wisely dove back into the other room, let his remaining bot step in front of him and take the bullets meant for him. Then their modern day Clyde turned tail and ran…out the front door, knew unerringly not to go across the street and cross paths with the MX dutifully holding his position out there. Instead, he tore down the walkway on the right, dodged into a backyard and disappeared.

For his part, Dorian didn't stop his barrage of bullets until the abandoned bot was down on the ground, unmoving, was no longer a threat to John.

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TBC

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I would really love some feedback on this, see if anyone's enjoying it. Thanks for reading.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.


	2. Chapter 2: Loyalties

Created Equally

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own Almost Human or Star Trek or any rights to the television show or movie, nor am I making any profit from this story.

Summary: When Kirk, an old friend of Kennex's comes back into town for a deadly robbery case, Dorian has his hands full trying to keep Kennex in one piece and struggling to accept that all friends, synthetic soul or real, are not created equally. No Slash.

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Chapter 2: Loyalties

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Rushing to John's side, Dorian dropped down into a crouch beside his partner who had slumped back onto the floor. "John!" he called in worry as he noted the blood pooling from the side of his human partner's neck. Reaching out, he pressed his hand to the wound to slow down the blood flow. Looking down into John's pained eyes, he assured, "Hang on, John. I'm calling an ambulance," his face doing its disco thing to confirm that.

"Just a nick," John weakly said in objection to Dorian's concern.

"To your _neck_. One millimeter from your artery," Dorian stressed, pressing harder on the wound as his worry mounted at his own dark statement.

"Close doesn't count," John murmured, though it was getting harder to keep his eyes open, to keep his vision sharp enough to make out Dorian's features.

"Just shut up for a change and let me do my partner thing," Dorian groused but his voice was gentle.

That command had John coming around a little more, muttering, "Stop bossing me around," but did nothing to ward off the shiver that coursed through his frame the next second.

Diagnosing the onset of shock, Dorian rested his other hand on John's chest, sent a measure of heat through his touch to warm up his friend and keep the shock at bay. Softly he conceded, "You got it, no more bossing you around just…" when John seemed ready to say something else, Dorian broke out a hushed tone, "Sh..sh.. Help will be here soon. I promise."

Dorian didn't take notice of Kirk hovering at his shoulder, halting his intentions to shove the synthetic aside and get to his best friend's aid. He didn't see the detective's face exhibiting raw fear or heartfelt gratitude. No, Dorian was too focused on the most important person in his world, on keeping that person alive and at his side.

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It took longer than it should have until the ambulance got there, until someone was there who could do more than just hold in John's blood. But it was hard for Dorian to disconnect his touch from John, to stand up, to let others close to his partner when he was vulnerable. To stand there while the medics tended to John, loaded him on a gurney and carried him out of the house, with Dorian tailing in their wake. Was like getting hit with a hot power rod when John was loaded in the ambulance, the doors were shut and he had to watch the ambulance, bearing his friend, drive away, leave him behind.

But he wasn't left alone, _Kirk_ was there. The last person on God's green earth Dorian wanted to even look at, let alone speak to. Had a spike of insight that this burning in his gut was known as hatred. The feeling didn't quell when he tracked Kirk to the sidewalk, relaying his report to his MX to upload to the Captain.

'_See if he's her favorite person __now__,_' Dorian pettily retorted to himself as he crossed to the sidewalk, had the good grace to wait until the MX walked away before he grabbed onto Kirk's elbow to spin him to face him and lowly growled, "John's hurt because of you, could have gotten killed!"

"Don't overreact. John said it. It's just a nick," Kirk airily downplayed for the synthetic's benefit. But in truth, he felt like absolute horse crap. He had come to town hoping to spend some quality time with Kennex, not get him shot. He had about one second to wonder at the expression on the DRN before a fist flew for his face. And then it was lights out.

"How's that for overreacting," Dorian bit out as he stepped over the unconscious detective and started to confer with the other officers, hoping to get a lead on the perp who had fled the scene, to do something other than worry about John.

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"You punched me!" Kirk snarled as he came down the bullpen stairs bee-lining it for Dorian.

Though Dorian calmly turned to face his accuser, something flared in his eyes and it wasn't a red eyed flash of low power. "You deserved it."

"That's enough!" Captain Maldonado's voice cut through their feud as she stood at her office door, witnessing, like the rest of the precinct, the heated exchange. "Dorian, my office. Now."

Without sparing Kirk another moment of his time, Dorian turned and headed to the captain's office, passed her in the door, didn't see the reprimanding look she shoot to Kirk before it softened into a silent communication between the two of them. And it conveying something that had Kirk coloring in rare shame before he gave a nod of his head in acquiesce.

Accepting that Kirk was under control, Sandra didn't fight back a sigh, the scene in the bullpen with Kirk so deja-vu it was painful. Except Kirk hadn't been the one landing punches, Dorian was. Vaguely she wondered if John Kennex even knew the kind of loyalty he inspired in both these men…well, Dorian wasn't…but one look at the DRN's troubled expression and she knew she had it more right the first time.

Instead of taking an intimidating seat behind her desk, she leaned against it, gestured at a chair, indicating that Dorian should take a seat.

With a slight hesitation, Dorian sat down, was starting to realize the situation he found himself in. He had only had a single one-on-one conversation with Captain Maldonado before. And that had occurred when he first got partnered with John, right after his and John's verbal blow up in the squad room. Troubled, he had watched John storm out of the squad room, felt the need to go after the man but he had dutifully went to the captain instead at her beckoning. And though he had steeled himself for the Captain's reprimand for showing his partner disrespect, to maybe be sent back to the void for such an infraction, Maldonado's words had been neither a rebuke or a threat. Recalled them verbatim now.

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"_He was different before," she quietly stated once she had shut the door, made sure her words were for Dorian alone. "Trusted people, trusted himself, let people know him. And I get why all that's changed, I really do. We humans know we are supposed to learn something from our experiences in life, do better next time, not make the same mistakes. Trouble is, when we get hurt, sometimes we go to extremes to not feel that pain again."_

"_He won't trust me because of the decision the MX made on the raid scene," Dorian quietly surmised what he feared all along, that the MX's faults would taint his relationship with John, always. _

_But the captain shook her head. "Not the MX's decision as much as his own. He lost people he cared about, people he lead into that raid. Tactically, if there was a better way since Insydicate knew our plans, we'll never know…__.John__ will never know. But what he does know is he wants to save the lives of his fellow officers, never wants to be the one to lose more. So this thing with Reinhardt being killed in front of him, this virus targeting police officers, it's hitting him hard."_

_Dorian was putting the pieces together of what the Captain wanted him to know, said slowly as he was making another leap of logic, "Meaning that he'll do anything to try and save the lives of his fellow officers, to make up for the friends he lost on the raid."_

"_Something like that. Dorian. I'm trusting you to …."_

_But Dorain was storming for the door. With the Captain's insight into Kennex's mind set, he knew just where his partner would be, what he would be doing, risking. And though he was already out the door, he still heard his captain's directive._

"…_keep an eye on him," Sandra said to the empty room, knew then and there that Dorian and John deserved each other, neither giving one iota to authority when they got something in their heads. And no one had to know that just made her smile, to feel like, teaming John with Dorian, it had been the right thing to do. _

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Bringing herself back to the present, of a Dorian that was still waiting for her to continue, Sandra knew it was another time to enlighten the DRN on the inner workings of the human psyche, namely Kirk's.

"So what's going on between you and detective Kirk?" Though Sandra could guess.

Dorian actually squirmed in his seat before answering, his words structured so they, in no way, incriminated John in the less than stellar outcome of the house raid. "I don't think Detective Kirk is a good influence on John." _'Because John would have never sentenced me to the backdoor like a guard dog, would have treated me like a cop…would treat me like a partner deserved to be treated.' _But his stiffly spoken condemnation of Kirk had his captain_ smiling._

"Never has been. Think that's why John likes him so much," Sandra replied with something Dorian noted was affection and it miffed him, this loyalty to the man who had talked John into entering the house without him, without backup, whose influence resulted in John being shot.

"You like Kirk, too," he accused, subtracting points from his good favor of his captain for her poor judgment.

But she didn't look repentant at being caught out liking Kirk but amused. "I know you think that's not to my credit but that's what people thought when I was determined to get John back to work."

Instead of commending the captain for her noble faith in John, he muttered under his breath, "I don't get it. He's reckless, egotistical, course."

Sandra offered up a small smile at Dorian's description. "On the outside. Inside…he's special, like John. Rough edges to shelter what's going on in his heart." But Dorian didn't look at all convinced that Kirk was hiding a heart of gold. Rubbing her fingers across her lips in a uneasy gesture, she decided to go all in and met Dorian's gaze head on. "A lot of people blamed John for the deaths on that raid, didn't care that John was in a coma, more likely to die than live. They needed someone to hate and John was it. But Jim Kirk…he wouldn't allow John to be the scape goat, defended his friend every day from the patrolmen all the way up to the commissioner. It wasn't unusual for him to get into a brawl defending John. Got so bad that I was told to transfer him to another city..but he wouldn't go." She gave a fond smile as she remembered his response. "Said he'd resign before he left John, wanted to be there when John woke up. But her face closed up when she recalled the rest of that conversation.

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_She gentled her voice as she met Kirk's set features. "Your loyalty is admirable but ….John might not __**wake up**__. You know that."_

"_You're giving up on him too!" Kirk bit out, surging out of the chair, irate at her disloyalty, at someone who John valued, trusted turning on him._

_But Sandra inhaled a shaky breath, confessed hoarsely, "I'm trying to brace myself."_

_Kirk stiffened, knew what she meant, that he was fighting to cling to hope every day. "For the worst? Well, I can't…__**I won't.**__ John…he's still alive in there. He'll wake up and I'm gonna be there for him. Not sitting in another precinct in another city, walking a beat. He doesn't have anyone else, Sandra. His Dad's gone. Anna blew town. Except for a few haphazard visitors, he's been all alone….__will__ be all alone if I leave. So…either let me stay on the job here until he wakes up or I'll get my resignation letter put together."_

_And there was no way Sandra would return such loyalty with cruelty. Pointing a finger at Kirk, she declared, "Ok, stay, but no more brawling."_

_But Kirk shook his head, a defiant gleam in his eyes. "I'm not going to let them bad mouth John."_

_Sandra sighed, knew that before she even made the decree he couldn't possible keep. "I know. Just….find less violent ways to stand up for Kennex, ok?"_

_And Kirk gave his patent smart aleck smirk and a less than encouraging, "I'll try." Sandra added another fervent prayer to the long list she had already tallied that John Kennex would be ok, would wake up and soon. _

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Trying not to appear caught off guard by the retelling of Kirk's fervent loyalty to John, his choice to risk his career to be there for his friend, Dorian posed, "Did that stop his fighting with his fellow officers?"

The captain's lips quirked up into a half smile. "Sort of. He never threw the first punch after that. Just messed with John's haters by putting salt in their coffee…disabling their cars in the garage so they won't start…gave their home numbers to solicitors every chance he got."

For the first time in the conversation, Dorian smiled. "That sounds a lot like stuff John would pull."

Sandra's eyes lit up at Dorian's keen insight. "Exactly! When I questioned him about it, Jim said he was just taking a page out of Kennex's book."

Dorian gave a very human sigh of begrudging acceptance. "So he really cares for John?" At Sandra's firm nod, he shook his own head in confusion. "Then why does he incite John to put his life in jeopardy unnecessarily?!"

Sandra snorted in admiration and frustration. "Do you understand the term "cowboys"?" At Dorian's look of confusion she tried to explain. "Men who like to buck the system, go solo against bad odds, do things the risky way because that's their version of a good time. That's Kirk and Kennex to a T."

Dorian scowled in disapproval, declared the next second, "I'm not fond of this "cowboy" mentality."

"You don't have to be…any more than I do," Sandra allowed, knew she and Dorian were like minded on this but also that they had to find ways to deal with it. Because John & Jim, they weren't going to change overnight. "It's our job to make sure they don't get themselves killed while they're off having their good time."

"Sure…leave me the easy job," Dorian half-heartedly grumbled as he stood up.

But Sandra reached out, slid her hand around Dorian's arm, stopping his departure. She knew what she said next might put Dorian into a tail spin but it was time the DRN knew what John had done for him. "Dorian….John…he's made sure the department will keep you on, even if something happens to him."

Dorian's face registered concern more than shock or gratitude. "Did he just make that request? Is his condition worse than the paramedics on the scene determined?" Gearing up to get to the hospital right away, to do whatever he could to ensure his friend was going to survive.

"No, no, Dorian." Sandra quickly reassured. "I just got an update and he's all stitched up, will be released in the next hour or so." She watched as the DRN absorbed that news, showed all the human signs of being extremely relieved, almost weak-kneedly so. "John made that a requirement the week after you two partnered up."

Dorian's head tilted in confusion. "He did? He didn't even like me back then, kept calling me 'synthetic.'"

Sandra's smile was full wattage this time. "Like I said, rough on the edges to hide what's special on the inside."

Dorian returned her smile with one of his own. "Thank you Captain," And it wasn't just about sharing her insight into John with him…it was for trusting him to safeguard John, for partnering him with Kennex. For taking a chance on him, trusting that he wouldn't flip out like some of his predecessors had, to maybe right some of their wrongs. And he knew he and John weren't so different, they both were coming back from a loss, looking to improve opinions and save people instead of lose them.

But what was harder for Dorian to accept was, Kirk was on their team, cared about John, was, in his own way, trying to do right by John_. 'Well, his methods suck,'_ Dorian silently condemned but couldn't help look at Kirk in a new light as headed back into the bullpen, because, whether he approved or not, John had smiled a lot more, laughed a lot harder since Kirk's arrival. And he was friend enough to John to want that to continue…but only if John didn't get hurt further.

Because if any more harm came to John, Dorian thought his response to that occurrence might just put his predecessors' breakdowns to shame.

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Dorian, Kirk, Stahl and Maldonado were gathered around a conference table, a picture of the female perp that John had fatally shot on the screen in the room. "They've been able to identify our Bonnie as Belinda Marlin. And with a little digging into her associates, we've put a name to her Clyde," the captain informed. A picture of the male counterpart of the duo appeared and beside his name was his rap sheet. "Darin Taffit, wanted for robberies in the northeast. All his crimes had high tech aspects. But this crime spree of violence and big payoffs was new for him."

"She upped his aspirations," Detective Stahl formulated, drawing looks from Dorian and Kirk. "He wanted to impress her, Belinda, show her he was in her league. The high profile heists were her idea most likely, not his."

"Awww…he killed people to get the girl," Kirk sarcastically drawled in bitterness, had seen the bodies in their wake first hand. Innocents, killed because two psychopaths had fallen in love.

"Question is, what does he do next? Where does he go? Continue the work she inspired in him?" the captain posed but before anyone could start brainstorming, the conference door opened behind them, setting their head turning that direction.

"What'd I miss?" John opened with, reveled in Stahl's bright smile, gave a nod to Sandra's relieved smirk then Kirk was up out of his chair and in his path.

"Hey, you alright? Should you be out of the hospital?" Jim worriedly cross-examined even as he winced at the white bandage coiling around John's neck and his friend's still-paler-than-normal complexion.

"Yes, _mom_, I'm allowed to come out and play," John drolly retorted but, contrary to his tone, his eyes were flashing with appreciation for his friend's open concern.

"Ok, _son_," Jim shot back mockingly before he latched onto John's arm and motherly steered Kennex into his vacated chair, made a point to start to go as far as roll the chair toward the table. He smirked happily when John slapped his hand away. Yeah, his friend was just fine.

Shifting in his seat at all the attention, John caught Dorian's eyes across the table, returned his partner's small smile of greeting with his own before he focused on the picture on the screen. "So we finally got an ID. Darin Taffit. We got a lead on him?"

Getting back to the business at hand, Sandra caught John up, "No, but we were just about to brainstorm."

"I know mental work isn't your thing, John, so we'll understand if you want to go get a donut now," Dorian sallied to John, hoping to get a response from his friend. He didn't miss it when Kirk abandoned his stance at the side of the room to advance toward him…..in defense of John?!

But John proved what Dorian already knew: when it came to sharp comebacks, John didn't need anyone's assistance. "Oh I can sit right here and get a donut since Rudy's made some upgrades to you. Bet you can be more than my coffee warmer now, able to bake a donut just right under your chestplate."

"Oh, hilarious," Dorian retorted but was all smiles. Yeah, John was just fine.

"Are you two done? Think we can actually do police work now?" the Captain posed with impatience, didn't let herself smile at the exchange.

John gave a permissive wave of his hand to his captain and Sandra continued. "So any thoughts on how to track Darin? Since he left his bots behind, we can't pull the same tracking trick on him we did before."

"There were the blueprints, the heists he planned. He might still hit one of those places," Kirk hazarded but he shot down his own theory the next second. "But without the girl and the bots, he's seriously handicapped to pull off the jobs. So what…is he looking to grab new bots?"

"She can't be replaced," Dorian quietly said, mostly to himself.

"What?" John asked, not quite picking up his partner's words.

"She can't be replaced," Dorian repeated. "The bots can be but she….she meant something to him."

"That's touching but how does that help us get the guy?" John impatiently asked, eyes on Dorian, trusting that his partner's thought process would lead to something useful…if he just got to the point already.

Dorian's stilled as his thoughts came together, made Taffit's next move seem almost obvious, had him sharply meeting John's gaze. "He'll want revenge on you for killing her. He watched you take the kill shot, would have killed you out of rage at the house if I hadn't gotten there in time."

"My hero," John over sweetly drawled, causing Kirk to chuckle at his back.

Dorian's eyes narrowed in frustration at John's lack of gratitude and willingness to overlook the fact that he would have died if he hadn't arrived on the scene, distracted Taffit.

Properly reading Dorian's expression, John sighed, conceded, "Ok, fine, you saved my bacon. You want a metal or a chest to put it on?"

"I already have both," Dorian cockily shot back.

"I'm not disagreeing with Dorian, but how does that help us?" Valerie posed, eyes going from Dorian back to John.

And no one at the table thought it was a good sign when John _smiled_.

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"I hate this idea," Dorian growled as he watched John slip on his coat.

"It was partly yours," John defended but was cut off from meeting Kirk on the landing by Dorian's grip on his arm. He met his partner's concerned gaze with surprising tolerance.

"Not for you to be bait!" Dorian hissed lowly, wished John wasn't such a skilled tactician. When the captain had strictly refused Kennex's idea, had wanted to put John in protective custody instead, John had lobbed back that he was a cop, not a civilian, that he didn't duck and hide when someone came after him and he certainly didn't let innocent people get hurt because he was too scared to do his job. After that speech, the captain had to either agree to John's plan or give John the impression that she didn't trust him to do his job. Hence the situation they found themselves in right then.

"It will work," John assured, holding Dorian's gaze hoping his friend trusted him in this.

"Yeah, and I remember you saying" then Dorian mimicked John's voiced exactly "I got it under control" before he concluded in his own voice "right before you almost blacked out behind the car wheel and just about killed yourself with a head-on collision with a bus."

"Are you holding a grudge about what happened with your ear? Because, it's all better," John reassured, made a point to look at Dorian's long repaired right ear.

"It's not about my ear," Dorian growled back, wished John could accept his concern, not buck against it. Decided to forego the pansy footing around the real issue. "I'm worried about your safety and you know it!"

But John smirked, gave Dorian's shoulder a squeeze. "Kirk will have my back while you scan the crowds for Taffit at the press conference."

Not willing to be pacified, Dorian shook off John's hold, shot a glare at Kirk who stood on the landing, impatiently waiting for John, before his look settled back on John. "Excuse me if I don't have warm feelings about you being protected by a _jerk_ who let you get shot, almost _killed_ in a foolhardy raid yesterday." Whatever good opinion that the captain's story of Kirk defending Kennex had fostered was now being buried under Dorian's raw fear at the thought of John being in the other detective's sole care when an unstable killer wanted nothing more out of life than to end Kennex's life.

Something shifted and hardened in John's eyes and he took a looming step toward Dorian. "That "jerk", as you call him, was the only one there when I woke up from my coma. That "jerk" balled me out until I tried on the stupid synthetic leg. That "jerk" wouldn't leave me alone until he knew he had convinced me to not put a bullet through my brain. So don't talk to me about who'll have my back when the crap hits the fan." Then John stalked away, made quick work of the stairs and then Kirk and he were leaving, shoulder to shoulder, like bosom buddies.

"Great, I royally screwed that up," Dorian muttered even as he was still processing the meaning of John's last example. He gave the closest MX ,who apparently had overheard him, a glare that had the other android wisely moving away.

But before Kennex was out of the precinct, the captain exited her office and, phone pressed to her ear, called out "Kennex, Kirk" to halt the two men's progress. She waved them back and then waved Dorian to join her. When all three men stood before her, she continued to listen to whoever was on the other end of the call but didn't miss the tension zinging between Kennex and Dorian. _'Great, now those two aren't playing well together. What am I, their mother?' _she thought even as the call ended.

"Rudy thinks he has gotten something off the bot at the house that might help track Taffit." Saw that all three men started to leave, presumably to head for Rudy's lab but she dictated, "Kennex, Dorian see what he wants. Kirk, let's go over the plan again." So what if she was playing mom, putting her two arguing boys together so they'd make up. She didn't want all her motherly instincts to go untapped after all.

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The walk to Rudy's was encased in stiff silence. But that didn't mean Dorian wasn't busting at the seams to say something. He was shifting apologies through his head every step of the way, looking for the right one, the one that would get John to forgive him. Was cursing John's long, determined stride that was sure to get them to their location before Dorian settled on the right words.

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Though Rudy Lom had a rare appreciation for the working of MXs and other bots, one thing he could never stand: when they impersonated his voice. That was just down right creepy. And the bot right now, the one that Dorian had disabled in their raid of the Bonnie & Clyde duo, hearing it on the phone with the captain using his voice patterns and inflections, it put creepy down a peg because 'afraid' was now the chief emotion Rudy felt.

And it wasn't for his own life. Well, ok, it _was for his own life _because he was tied and gagged in his own lab, was staring down the barrel of a gun wielded by none other than the Clyde character. But his life wasn't the only one the man was threatening: Kennex. This trap was to bring John Kennex there. The robber had somehow done a _reverse_ trace on his damaged bot while Rudy had been trying to gleam a similar way to trace the robber.

And it would have been impressive if the situation were less dire, how easily Clyde had fixed up his bot into working order, to sit up, scan his memory files of the last few hours while he lay there, seemingly unaware of his surrounding, and pull up all of Rudy's calls and speech patterns and came up with a facsimile of Rudy's voice that Rudy himself would swear was him. Than the bot called a phone number which Rudy had called just that morning to talk shop on another case and led an eerily normal conversation with Captain Maldonato, that ended with a request for John Kennex come to his lab.

Ruby had tried to shout out a protest around the gag but Clyde's gun pressed to his forehead had him falling silent instantly. Now he was left to sit there helplessly, to both anxiously wait for and equally dread John's arrival.

If anyone could turn this situation around into a win, Rudy knew John could. But only if Kennex didn't take a bullet to the heart from Clyde the second he walked into the lab.

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TBC

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Thanks for anyone out there reading this story. And a thousand thank yous go to my two wonderful reviewers who gave me encouragement to continue the story.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.


	3. Chapter 3: Worthy Sacrifices

Created Equally

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own Almost Human or Star Trek or any rights to the television show or movie, nor am I making any profit from this story.

Summary: When Kirk, an old friend of Kennex's comes back into town for a deadly robbery case, Dorian has his hands full trying to keep Kennex in one piece and struggling to accept that all friends, synthetic soul or real, are not created equally. No Slash.

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Chapter 3: Worthy Sacrifices

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"John, I…" Dorian began but John shot him a quelling look and, for once, it worked on him. So they entered Rudy's lab in silence, John in the lead and Dorian obediently following in his wake. And later Dorian would wonder, had he been in front of John would it have changed the outcome, would he have sensed something amiss had he not been so caught up in emotions. As it was, John's first thought as he entered the lab and saw Taffit was to warn _him._

"Dorian down!" John shouted even as dove to the right, landed on the floor behind one of the remaining pews in the repurposed church. Pulling his gun, he hunkered down there, could see Dorian behind a piece of lab equipment. Their eyes met as they waited for the gun fire they both expected.

But Taffit called out instead, "Detective Kennex, glad you could join us. I've been having a nice one-sided conversation with your friend, Rudy, but I'd prefer talking to you."

John quailed at the thought of Rudy being in danger because of him. "I'm here now so let Rudy go."

"So civilized. You weren't when you murdered Belinda." Though Taffit kept his voice level, there was an edge of barely held back fury in the words. "Just like I won't be if you don't come out in the next two seconds and change places with your friend."

Eyes anxiously flying to John, Dorian held up his hand to halt his partner's intentions to simply stand up, to do what Taffit wanted. "Prove you have Rudy?" Dorian demanded of Taffit, though he could determine two heat sources in the lab, was stalling, still hoping to be able to alert Captain Maldonado of the situation, for his communication equipment to stop malfunctioning.

"Ah, that's the DRN, right?" Taffit hazarded with something akin to amusement. His eyes cut to his bot and jerked his head to the right, ordering it to find the DRN and take it out. "I wasn't prepared for you before, had myself all juiced up to take out MXs, but your brand, didn't see that coming. I've taken you into account today. Bet you noticed you can't get in or out any communication? No SOSs."

Dorian saw John's eyebrow raise in question and he shook his head in shame. His communication grid was locked out. He watched as John took a steadying breath in preparation to make his next move. "John, no!" Dorian commanded, knew if John exchanged himself for Rudy, that Taffit would kill him without hesitation.

"John, yes," Taffit drawled. "Come on, Rudy, tell your buddy here that you don't think it's right that you die in his place, especially when it was _his_ bullet that killed Belinda." Yanking Rudy off the chair he was on, Taffit knocked the scientist down to his knees and ripped off the gag so Rudy could speak for himself.

"I'm sorry, John," Rudy ashamedly apologized. "I thought the bot was dead in the water, didn't know he was able to trace it, let alone get it working. Quite impressive, really, but not…." He broke off as Taffit slapped him on the back of the head, stopping his ramblings.

"So John, who's gonna die today? You or Rudy?" Taffit challenged, eyes locked on John's last location, body thrumming with anticipation of getting his revenge.

"Don't hurt him, I'm coming out," John called out, afraid that Taffit was getting impatient, would take his frustration out on the easy target already in his grasp: Rudy.

"No, you're not!" Dorian hissed, eyes clashing with his partner's across the small expansion that separated them.

But the next breath, John was busy disregarding Dorian's wishes. Moving to a crouch behind the pew, John threw his gun out onto the floor so it was visible to Taffit. He was just about to announce that he was standing up when movement behind Dorian caught his eye. He didn't get a chance to call out a warning to his partner before Taffit's bot was rushing Dorian's position.

Having seen the panic in John's eyes, not for the fate he was about to volunteer for but for something behind _him_, Dorian spun around just in time to avoid a bullet to the head. Then he launched himself at the bot, his momentum sending he and the other bot slamming into a rack of tools. Even as he landed a blow that snapped the bot's head to the right, his thoughts were on John, on the self-sacrificing actions his partner was surely taking in order to save Rudy. '_And I'm not there to stop him or have his back,_' he grimly realized, his distraction allowing the other bot to get a punch in to his jaw that torqued his head to the left.

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"Now that I've got your DRN paired off with a playmate, I think it's time we had our conversation, don't you, Kennex?" Taffit called out, pressing the gun barrel viciously against the back of Rudy's head, his finger on the trigger.

"Yeah, I do," John tersely replied, coming to his feet, his hands out to show he was unarmed. At the sight of Rudy kneeling on the ground, Taffit's gun, an antiquated six shooter Colt, pressed to his head, John's gut twisted in guilt.

"Don't be shy, come closer," Taffit taunted, his hand griping into Rudy's shoulder, making sure the scientist didn't try and move away. As if he could read Kennex's thoughts, he smirked and gave a little shake to his hand holding the gun. "Oh she'll fire, alright. More than I can say about your gun," he announced, nodding toward John's discarded gun on the floor behind him. "I put up a field in here to block your DRNs communications and to short out the pulse ignition on the standard cop issue weapons. You didn't know this, but Belinda, she was enamored by the old days in the west. It was her idea to make the advances in technology work for us. I hacked MXs, police scanners and weapons, and she planned the heist. She was so excited when the news reporters dubbed us Bonnie & Clyde. She was happy…." He choked out before his eyes frosted over as they seared into John's gaze "And now she's dead by your hand. So if you think for one _second_ I wouldn't enjoy killing your friend just to see you suffer, you're wrong."

"I'm here, I'm coming closer," John appeased, moving forward with measured steps, his eyes taking in every nuance of the situation, searching for anything in his path that he could use as a weapon, wracking his brain for a way to get Rudy clear so he could take on Taffit without putting Rudy at further risk.

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It was a fluke…or a gut feeling, or both that had Kirk seeking out Kennex. Maybe it was just God's good grace that had him exit the police building and amble down the two city blocks to Rudy's lab to meet up with John. As he reached for the door, he heard the muted crash, not of a single beaker being knocked over but a _shelf_ of beakers shattering

Heart pounding, he ripped his gun from its holster even as he charged into the west foyer of the once-upon-a-time church. He was running down the hallway that led to the lab when he heard the unmistakable crack of a gunshot.

It should have been encouraging that there was only one single shot, instead, his heart twisted with ominous dread.

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Though John's eyes didn't leave Taffit, his thoughts weren't on the man's threat to him, were focused on his friends' wellbeing: worrying about how Dorian was faring against the other bot, about how he was going to keep Rudy safe, get the scientist out of this fix that his actions had put him in. Taffit was just the obstacle keeping him from protecting his friends.

Until the gun erupted, until something slammed into his chest, indiscriminately burning a path through his flesh.

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At the alarming sound of gunfire, Dorian's head snapped around, his eyes searching for his partner, but John was no longer in his line of sight. Impulsively, he turned away from his opponent, his only thought to get to John. He startled as a metal pipe pierced through his back, ended up protruding from his side. Growling in rage and frustration at being waylaid on his mission, he didn't bother pulling the pipe free, instead he spun around, drove his hand through the bot's metal chest plate, wrapped his hands around the wires he could and yanked his hand free.

His face turning up to Dorian in shocked surprise, the bot crashed to his knees.

Dorian didn't bother to wait for the bot to shut down, was already turning away, frantic to reach John. But when he distractedly pulled the pipe free from his torso, his own circuits faltered, causing his motor skills to go offline. Crumbling to the floor, he found that he couldn't move, was stuck lying there, useless to John. He struggled to reroute some of his power, to find some way to get up, to get to John, to know that he wasn't too late, that he had already lost his best friend.

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Stumbling back a step, stunned, John dropped his eyes to his chest, saw the hole in his jacket, the growing stain that was blossoming outward as the fabric turned dark with the blood surging from the wound. His blood. He looked up to Taffit, saw that the man had stepped around Ruby, was approaching him, his gun barrel leveled at his head.

"You were dead the second you hurt her," Taffit growled, finger on the trigger.

John could do nothing but stare unflinchingly at the man who would take his life. He would not beg, would not make his last act in this life a cowardly one. "Wrong.. I was a hero," he swayed on his feet, leaned heavily against the end of a pew to keep his feet. Felt pain and pressure as he inhaled. His air erupted in the form of a wet cough and he grimly knew the taste in his mouth was blood bubbling up from his lung. But he needed to keep Taffit talking, focusing on him, to give Dorian time to take out the bot, to get there and put Taffit down before the psycho decided to kill Rudy for spite even after he killed John.

"I put down someone evil," John wheezed, his legs suddenly buckling under him, sending him sliding to the floor, his shoulder propped up against the pew. He looked up at Taffit, past the barrel of the gun sighted on his forehead, to the man's grief, enraged gaze. "There's nothing worse than someone who doesn't value human life. And your…love of your life…she didn't. Not the life of anyone. Not the people you robbed…and not your life either. You should be thanking me… for getting her…out of your life," he caustically taunted, knew that his sentiments were for Anna too, that Belinda was just like her. A poison that you naively _welcomed _into your life, that killed everything and everyone around you while you were busy blindly being in love.

"Shut up! She was…." Taffit screamed but Kirk bursting onto the scene interrupted his defensive rampage of his one true love.

Always partial to the 'act first, think later' motto, Jim forewent sizing up the situation and just barreled through the door, ran into the sanctuary and instantly took in the situation: John down on the ground, Taffit standing over him, a gun to his head. Then Kirk reacted, didn't pay much attention to the fact that Taffit was giving a smug amile, raising his gun from John to sight on him like he had all the time in the world. Kirk was already pulling the trigger, didn't understand John's weak but panicked call of "Kirk, no!" …until his gun didn't fire, didn't do a darn thing no matter how many times he squeezed the trigger.

Then he was diving for cover but he wasn't going to be fast enough, knew that before the crack of gunfire echoed for a second time in the cathedral ceilings, before something hard slammed into his shoulder, sent him into a half spin as he collided with the floor, thankfully behind the cover of one of Rudy's machines. He didn't bother inspecting the bullet wound, instead he came up into a crouch with a groan of pain, already playing scenarios in his head on how to save Kennex. But he knew every second he wasted in inaction was a second that Taffit could kill John.

"Ah, screw it," Jim mumbled under his breath as he hastily grabbed beakers, MX parts and other techno components he didn't know the use for. Grimacing as his arm and shoulder flared in pain, he cradled the items in his arms. Guessing it had been Dorian locked in mortal or rather, artificial intelligent combat with one of Taffit's pet bots to his right, Kirk lobbed an MX part to the left, hoped to draw Taffit's attention there. Then, before he could tell himself what a bad idea it was, he surged to his feet, dodged out from the cover he had and then, using the skill that had made him John Kennex's high school football co-captain, he threw one of the components right at Taffit's head.

It hit its mark.

Even as Taffit was falling, Kirk was running full-out toward the thief, knew he needed to disarm Taffit before he recovered enough to even _think_ about using his last moment of freedom to take John's life. But he had apparently slowed down some since his all-star high school days because Taffit began to stir when he still had five yards to go, was bringing his gun up. And there was some measure of relief in Kirk when he realized that he was the target of Taffit's rage now instead of John.

Contemplating his options, he grimly knew that he was out of time, could not throw the part in his hand or dive out of the way quick enough. Even he wasn't faster than a speeding bullet.

But then John kicked out, his boot slamming into Taffit's arm, throwing off the thief's aim and causing the bullet to lodge into the pew inches from Kirk's chest.

Before Taffit could recover, Kirk was there, using the part he still held for good purpose by slamming it across Taffit's temple, sending the man into unconsciousness. Then Jim was half falling, half kneeling at John's side, pressing his hand against the bullet wound on John's chest, desperate to slow down the blood pumping out of his best friend's body.

John arched in pain and gave a moan of agony at Kirk's well-meaning actions. Numbly felt Jim's other hand curl around the back of his neck and give a tender squeeze, like his Dad used to do, not only to him but Kirk too. Because he wasn't the only who had grown fond of Kirk over the years, his dad had too, had tried to fill the space Kirk's father had left in his son's life when he was killed on-duty when Kirk was only a baby.

"I know, I know, I suck," Kirk retorted, the crack in his voice betraying his besieged emotional state. Leaning closer, he held John's eyes. "Hey, you've had way worse than this. You're gonna be fine."

John's lips twisted up in a bittersweet, weak smirk. "That's 'bout what I told Pelham..that it could be worse," he choked out, unaware of the blood splattering his lips as he spoke. Then his eyes darkened as the memories replayed in his head, of how the MX had deemed Pelham a lost cause, had left him, _them_ to die, then the blast that had taken his leg and left him fighting for his life in a coma. Anna had been his last sight, a sight that he had blocked out because it was too painful to remember.

As if sensing the dark place where Kennex's thoughts had gone, Jim gave John a shake, felt horrible as his friend drew in a painful grasp of air at the rough handling. "I'm not going to be the reason you get dead, you hear me. I brought you this case, so if you check out, I'm going to have to live with the guilt of being the reason that I lost you. You know how that feels, the weight of losing people because of choices, right or wrong, that you've made. So unless you hate my guts, you won't put me through that."

"Selfish jerk… to the last," John rasped, but there was affection in his eyes as they held Kirk's. But then he reached out, grasped desperately onto Jim's jacket. "Not your fault….whatever happens. I made…my own choices. I did…my job."

Over Kirk's shoulder, John saw Dorian stumble into view, noted the hole in his friend's torso but took it as a good sign that Dorian was still on his feet. John could tell when how badly he was hurt registered with Dorian, knew that the DRN was probably already scanning him, getting the medical facts that backed up what John sensed.

He wasn't going to make it. Not this time. He saw the stricken look on Dorian's face, the pain that no MX could ever replicate, had not the ability, the soul…the heart to feel.

John wanted to tell Dorian what he had told Jim, that it wasn't his fault, that he had been the best partner…and one of his closest friends in his lifetime. But then he saw something behind Dorian, wanted to call out a warning for the second time…

Seeing John's eyes go from pained apologetic to fearful at something at his back, Dorian turned in time to see the bot staggering forward, sparks erupting from the hole in his chest and a metal rod in his hand that he was poised to be thrown like a javelin. Almost too late, Dorian realized that he wasn't the intended target, John was.

As the rod left the bot's grip, arched through the air toward Kennex, Dorian leapt forward, put himself in the makeshift weapon's path, felt not panic but relief when the metal tore through his chest, struck him instead of John. The momentum of the impact sent him slamming back onto one of Rudy's work tables.

Having determined the bot's intentions when Dorian had, Kirk had thrown his body across John's, hoping to protect his friend from further harm. But when he didn't feel the metal pierce his back, he looked over his shoulder, saw that Dorian had had the same protective thought he had, had taken the hit in John's place. As Dorian toppled back onto a table, Kirk used the distraction to dive for Taffit's antique gun. Expertly, he sent a bullet into the bot's head. Though the bot jerked at the impact, he kept coming. Kirk squeezed the trigger another time and the second bullet ripped into the bot's eye but still the synthetic advanced. Another bullet to the bot's chest had the same disappointing result. And the next time Kirk pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Realized grimly why the gun was known as a 6- shooter. Six shots, that's all you got.

Cursing, Jim climbed to his feet was going to stop this bot from getting to John if it was the last thing he did. With a cry of rage, he charged the bot but was knocked out of the bot's way like he was a toddler. He collided headfirst into the edge of a table. Even as he crumbled to the ground, blood already running down his face into his eye from the cut on his temple, he watched the bot approach John, realized that Taffit had set a predetermined order with the bot to finish the job if his master couldn't.

Jim tried to push himself upright even as he predicted that he wasn't going to be quick enough to save John. Wanted to scream in rage and despair, to close his eyes and not see his friend killed right in front of him while he watched. Then Dorian was slamming into the bot, knocking him off course from his path to John and onto the floor.

"Dorian, the data chip in the back of his head, rip it out!" Rudy called out from his bound, prone place on the floor.

Taking Rudy's advice, Dorian reached around the bot he had pinned to the floor, dug his hand into the back of his head, clutched the data chip and yanked it out. The fight instantly went out of the bot as its memory core died. Then its eyes lost their color, resorted back to the black blankness.

Straightening off the deactivated bot, Dorian instantly looked back to make sure Kennex hadn't suffered further harm. John was slumped against the pew, his head bowed and his chin resting on his chest. In panicked terror, Dorian scanned his friend's vitals as he crawled to John's side.

"No!" Dorian vehemently denied when his scans detected no heartbeat, no respiration. Felt a rush of hatred for his makers when his internal readout heartlessly deemed John's status as deceased. With the care that an MX would never be capable of, Dorian pulled John into his arms, his breath catching in his chest when the man limply fell against him. Settling his friend down tenderly onto the floor, he positioned his hand on the human's chest and delivered a shock to start the man's heart. Fear and disappointment wracked him when the shock didn't bring John back to life. Sending another shock through the man, he waited and still got the same unresponsiveness.

"You're the most stubborn person I know, probably on the planet, John. Don't quit. You don't quit," Dorian growled, knew that sometimes to get through to John he had to be harsh, had to goad the man into opening up, letting others know him, help him.

Then Kirk's voice joined his as the man dropped to his knees on the other side of Kennex. "I didn't write you off like that MX did. Not three years ago and I'm not doing it now. I _know_ you… I …know you're tough. That's what your dad said that time you fell through the ice, said you were tough and that you'd survive because he needed you to. Well, I need you to survive now."

"_We_ need you to survive," Dorian amended, eyes shooting to Kirk, not in contempt but complete understanding, knew that they were the same in this, didn't want to lose John, didn't know how they could bear to lose him. Looking back to John's lifeless face, Dorian said, "I told you I was made to feel but I don't want to know grief and loss, what it feels like to lose someone I count on, who I call friend. You've taught me a lot about being a cop, about being a friend, about being human, don't teach me about grief, John. Not that."

Then he shocked John again, knew he and Kirk, even Rudy were holding their breathing, praying for John to stay with them. Suddenly, Dorian bowed his head.

"No! NO!" Kirk exclaimed in raw grief before Dorian's eyes snapped up to his, showed relief, not devastation.

"His heart's beating."

It was only seconds after that pronouncement that armed officers, haven't been drawn by reports of gunfire, stormed into the lab. Rapidly Kirk ordered them to get the EMTs, to secure Taffit and untie Rudy, all the while keeping his hand on Kennex's shoulder. Jim knew that he and Dorian would stay by John's side until the EMTs were on the scene, would continue to protect their best friend, even from his own human frailty.

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TBC

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Thanks for reading!

One chapter to go.

Have a great day!


	4. Chapter 4: Family

Created Equally

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own Almost Human or Star Trek or any rights to the television show or movie, nor am I making any profit from this story.

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Chapter 4: Family

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It was not a scenario Jim Kirk ever imagined himself being in, sitting in a hospital waiting room, sure he had done that before, but never with a synthetic seating at his side feeling what he was, knowing .._tasting_ the same fear and regret and guilt. An MX didn't feel, didn't even have facial expressions but Dorian, his face was as readable as any human's, conveyed his troubled state of mind, like the pacing that had come before screamed frustration and impatience and fear fear fear.

Looking across the room, Jim saw Sandra at the nurses' station asking again for an update, an update Kirk wasn't sure he could bear. And Rudy was making his way back down the hallway to him, sloshing coffee from the two cups he was bearing and wincing as the hot liquid burned his hands. When Kirk spoke it was quiet, not so he wouldn't be overheard by anyone except Dorian but because there seemed to barely be enough air in his lungs to get the words out, which had nothing to do with his through and through bullet wound that had been tended to, the head wound that was stitched and bandaged or the ache in his ribs from being tossed by the bot.

"My dad died a hero and John's dad died a marked dirty cop," his focus on his hands, the ones still stained with John's blood even after five hours, but he felt Dorian's attention snap to him. "I always resented my Dad for not being around for me and thought Edward Kennex walked on water." Then he raised his gaze to Dorian's, saw the look of almost wistful envy that, unlike Dorian, he had had a father to not know, had gotten the chance to know John's father.

Kirk gave a bittersweet smile. "It was the third grade when John decided we were gonna be friends. You know, he just made that decision and didn't consult me, just tossed me a basketball one day as I was about to walk home and said he'd give me a three point lead." Jim chuckled quietly. "He was a cocky jerk even back then." That declaration elicited a smile from Dorian but the expressions didn't last long on the synthetic's face, faded away to somber reflections.

"I can't say we were good for each other…not with all the trouble we stirred up," Jim remembered with a devious smirk before he too sobered. "I still remember the day John's dad pulled me aside, said '_John's adopted you and I'm good with that, our home is your home but there's one rule_.'" Kirk raised his one finger, mimicking Edward Kennex's expression from all those years ago. "'_Family takes care of family, James. That means whatever stuff you drag John into…you make sure you drag him out of it in one piece.'"_

Kirk swallowed hard and looked away, hoarsely continued, "And I said "Yes Sir" and that pledge has stuck with my whole life." He bitterly shook his head. "And I failed John…not once but twice now and if he…." He broke off, rubbed a shaking hand over his mouth. "Maybe there's a reason I didn't have a true brother…father. I let down the ones I even adopted." He didn't startle or shake off Dorian's hand when it fell reassuringly onto his shoulder.

"That's not how John sees you," Dorian denied just as quietly. "I called you a jerk and he reamed me out, said you've always had and always would have his back when…and I quote 'the crap hits the fan.'"

That caused Kirk to give a snort. "He's always articulate."

Dorian smirked back. "Articulate is not how I would classify his communication skills. And don't even get me started on his questionable sense of humor. You know Detective Paul took some vacation days and John told everyone he was having hemorrhoids surgically removed, even had the squad room taking up a collection for him. Strange thing is, when Paul got back, I think he enjoyed all the attention."

Kirk found himself laughing out loud. "Figures, I went rounds with Paul because he trash talked Kennex when he was in his coma, got split knuckles and reprimands for my trouble, and John wins the jerk over by pulling pranks on him. Bet John wasn't lollipops and rainbows to you when you were assigned to him?" he questioned, found himself anticipating Dorian's reply.

Dorian shook his head, holding onto his smirk. "He called me 'synthetic' because he knew I didn't like it. Told me I was 'Malfunctioning' when I said something he disagreed with. He never lets me drive..unless he's nearly incapacitated. Uses me as his coffee warmer and grumbles at me whenever I show concern for him."

But Jim was smiling at him knowingly. "And you love every minute of it."

Almost shyly, Dorian nodded his head. "He treats me…." But he wasn't sure what word to use, didn't want to imply something he had no right to.

"Like family?" Kirk supplied, enjoyed Dorian's shocked expression.

"No," Dorian denied, knew Kirk was over-emphasizing his connection with John. "No, I mean…like I'm human…his partner, a real one."

Jim, however, was smiling his wolf smile. "Nope, sorry. You don't get off that easy with John. Take it from me, once he decides you're his family, that's it. It's a lifetime gig. No matter how many times you screw up, he forgives you. Even this crapstorm I brought down on him, he's already given me his forgiveness, whitewashed it under the "doing his job" clause."

Dorian wasn't surprised that John had used the little breath he had while bleeding out to ease his friend's conscience, to give Kirk his absolution. "I've never had a family," he admitted a moment later, unsure how to be that to John, how to fill the obligation it required.

Kirk made a point to look around the room, to the Captain at the nurse's station, Rudy who was finally making it back to them, offering the coffee that didn't spill to Kirk, who took it with a grateful nod. Then Detective Stahl hurried into the waiting room, her face flushed with anxiety. Even Detective Paul, who was trying to appear reluctant to be there, was coming down the hallway to join the wait. "Seems to me your family's all around you."

Startled, Dorian swept his gaze around the room. "They're here for John. They are John's family."

"Well, that's the thing about families that you weren't born to but you adopt, they sneak up on your sometimes, are so quick to induct new members that they forget to tell you you're a member. Fact is, I didn't know John had "adopted" me into his family until his dad said he had."

Dorian felt his eyes well, knew that John had given him this, had given him a family, this family. "I don't deserve them..or John. Today…I was the one right there, not you, and I didn't protect him. That's my purpose, to protect my partner and I didn't do that."

"Then there must be another DRN running around, jumping in front of flying metal rods meant to impale Kennex, ripping bots apart with his bare hands who threaten his partner. Now that guy…he's partner material," Jim quipped.

"You're about as funny as Kennex," Dorian deadpanned but was fighting back a smile.

"Wow, that funny. I'll take that as a compliment."

"You really shouldn't," Dorian wisecracked back. A few minutes of silence fell before he asked, "This feeling, this fear of losing him, you felt this for seventeen months while John was in his coma?"

Swallowing thickly, Jim nodded.

"How did you stay …sane?" Dorian earnestly asked, knew he, of all people, should never give the impression he might suffer a mental breakdown, not with the DRN's past reputation, but he found he trusted Kirk enough to risk making that implied admission.

Again, Kirk's eyes went to his hands, the blood there that was John's. "I didn't. I took that fear and turned it into anger, went at anyone who badmouthed Kennex, trashed my reputation as a good cop…got myself blacklisted here and transferred out of New Pittsburgh." But when Kirk met Dorian's eyes a moment later, there was conviction there. "But all of that was worth it because John didn't give up, he didn't leave me, didn't take my family away from me. And I gotta believe, he'll do it again."

"Because we need him to," Dorian finished, repeating Kirk's earlier quote from John's father.

"Yeah, because we need him to," Jim returned with faith in his friend's loyalty, not only to him, but to Dorian, to the new family he had formed that was gathered in the waiting room.

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When the doctor approached Kirk to deliver his update on John Kennex's condition, he found himself surrounded by five other people. Before he could ask, Kirk supplied, "They're his family too," before he anxiously demanded, "How is he?" trying to read the doctor's expression.

"His lung was nicked and there was substantial blood loss but we have removed the bullet. It was touch and go a few times, but we've finally managed to stabilize him," the doctor imparted.

It was Captain Maldonado who bluntly demanded, "What does all that mean?"

The doctor faced her, sighed and cut to the chase. "There's still numerous risks that could impede his recovery but he's fought the good fight so far, I don't see him giving up any time soon."

"He's going to be ok," Kirk surmised, a smile beaming across his face.

The doctor couldn't hold back his own small smile. "My money's on that, yes." Seeing the relief blossoming around the gathered family of John Kennex, he offered, "I'll let you know when he's settled in ICU and you can visit him," then he left them to their good news.

Kirk surprised Dorian by catching him into a hug, gasping out, "He's gonna be alright."

Returning the hug, Dorian declared with conviction "Yeah, he is," suddenly felt like he had the power to make sure it was the truth. Would soon be able to see John, to touch him, goad and order him to keep being stubborn. When Kirk released him, went to Sandra, Dorian turned to Rudy, saw the scientist was struggling to keep his emotions in check. So he tugged Rudy into a hug, felt the desperate way the other man held onto him, his breath coming out unevenly, like he was crying. "He's gonna be OK, Rudy. He will."

Rudy pulled back, wiped at his eyes, stammered, "I know, I just…"

Dorian squeezed Rudy's shoulder. "You've been here before, almost losing him. It makes this harder, doesn't it?"

Rudy nodded. "This time, though, I was there, was my fault he gave himself up to Taffit."

"No, Rudy. Taffit was at fault, not you. John isn't going to blame you for how things happened and he wouldn't want you blaming yourself."

Rudy seemed to accept this, reminded, "I do need to patch you up before your reverted power is totally depleted," nodding to Dorian's chest where Kirk's loaned and zipped up jacket hid the two points of impalement. Dorian obediently nodded and Rudy ambled over to one of the chairs.

Dorian stood watching Kennex's adopted family interact, wondered if John knew how many people were blaming themselves for his pain, would change places with him in an instant. '_He'd never believe it even if he were here witnessing it._' Because he had once told John that he didn't know himself, and he didn't, didn't know how great a man he was, how valued he was, how needed he was, even after what he and Kirk had told him in Rudy's lab to keep him with them. But maybe that was what made John who he was, that he saw the worth in others but not himself, would risk his life to do what was right and never realized how precious his life was to those who cared about him.

'_Maybe that's why Captain Muldonado gave me that speech when I was first partnered with John, that sometimes the person John needed protected from most, was himself. And I thought it was about the recollectionist, about how far he would push himself to remember the past. I didn't understand it wasn't just about the past, was about John's self-sacrifices to come, sacrifices that John would make without hesitation. Unless someone held him back, deemed when his sacrifices weren't warranted_.' But that was John, he had risked his life to try and save Pelham even though the MX had told him his partner had suffered a mortal wound. And Dorian had always wondered what he would have done had he been there, had always thought he would have helped John get Pelham to safety.

'_But I wouldn't have done that,_' he realized now, knew that he would have acted, not so much logically but from his heart. _'I would have saved John…and left Pelham behind, wouldn't have risked John's life for someone who couldn't be saved. I'll always do all I can to spare John's life..even if that means he hates me one day for saving him instead of someone else.' _And it was a hard burden to bear, but one he bore gladly. It was a small price to pay to be a part of John's life, to be a part of a family, to know he wasn't alone anymore.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Two days later, Kennex was propped up in the hospital bed, finally coherent enough to fully appreciate a visitor, had vague snatches of memory of Kirk being there before, Dorian too. Sandra had made an appearance and Valerie, wait, did she kiss him on the cheek or was he just fantasying that she had? And he totally didn't trust his recall of Paul being there…must have been some weirdo dream the painkillers put him into because there was no way Richard visited him…and hadn't taken his opportunity to suffocate him with a pillow when he was too out of it to defend himself.

"Hey, who's finally sitting up and awake?" Jim greeted the welcome sight with a wide smile as he claimed a seat in the chair he and Dorian had taken turns occupying during visiting hours.

"You make that sound like I've done something worthy of a parade," John grumbled, hated how weak he was, that he had lost time, nearly two days. Hadn't he lost enough of that before with his coma, had woken up to a new world, one where Anna was gone, Kirk was shipping out to Philadelphia, his team was all killed in the raid and his leg had been severed from the knee down. He couldn't wake up to painful changes like that ever again. Not and emotionally survive.

Speaking of missing out on things, his eyes widened as he marked the bandage on Kirk's forehead, the stiff way his friend was sitting in the chair. "Oh crap, you were shot…" he exclaimed starting to sit up but Jim was instantly standing by his bed, a strong but gentle hand pinning his shoulder back to the mattress.

"A through and through that's all patched up. You're the gold medal winner on wounds this go around," Kirk downplayed his injury as well as the crippling fear that had plagued him that John would die on him for real this time. A fear whose tendrils had clung on…until now, until John was lucid, knew he was there, was talking to him….already showing his stubborn streak.

But Kennex's sharp inspection of his friend didn't stop at Kirk's reassurances. "Head wound and busted rib too. Didn't anyone ever tell you to not mess with revenge seeking psychopaths and homicidal synthetics." Left unsaid, _'Not to protect me, especially not when any MX would have scanned my vitals and deemed me a goner.'_

It seemed Kirk read his mind because he gave Kennex one of his rare piercing gazes. "I'd do it all over again…. for you." Needed to get that through John's head, what he meant to him, would always mean to him no matter that he wasn't fighting daily at his side.

"So you haven't smartened up, still going with blind loyalty," John remarked, his tone a mixture of reprimand and affection.

"All the way," Kirk unapologetically declared with a wide cocky smile. Liked how John snorted but didn't try to dissuade him from his set path.

"Well…thank you. For being there…and here," John hoarsely said, wanted Kirk to know that, though his loyalty to him was insane, it was so very much appreciated.

Jim gave a sharp nod as he reclaimed his seat in his chair, met John's gaze a few moments before he spoke. "I pushed you and I'm sorry."

John's face registered confusion before he prodded, "Pushed me?"

"In the house, for you and I to go in solo. I just…." Kirk ran a hand down his face. "When Sandra said she was prodding you to come back on the job…" he stopped there and bit his lip before he exhaled loudly. "I opposed the idea. Loudly. I just…."

"Hey, I get it," John softly forgave. "A one legged, PTSD guy who got his last team killed…not great cop material. I told Maldonado the same thing."

But Kirk was shaking his head. "It wasn't about me doubting your abilities, John. It was fear. Mine." He held John's gaze, didn't want anything misinterpreted between them. "I didn't want you back in the line of fire. To say you nearly died two years ago is such an understatement…and I…I didn't want anything to happen to you. Like…ever. So being with you on the case, I pushed you, needed to know you were still the stubborn survivor that I knew, that I could trust that you wouldn't get yourself killed."

"Killed no, shot…apparently that's a yes," John admitted with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Nicked," Jim corrected like John had Dorian.

John nodded with a smirk. "Right, a nick. But I'm not the only walking wounded this time. Maybe I should be worried about trusting _you_ to not get yourself killed."

"Hey, I was zero for zero in Philadelphia. Guess it's like your dad always said about us," waited until he knew John would say the next quote with him. Then they said in synch, "We're not happy unless we're pissing someone off and losing blood." Both smiled at their shared memories.

"You really gotta go back to Philly?" John asked out of the blue.

Jim stiffened at the question but nodded, felt a little too torn up to verbalize it. He had made his bed and now he had to lie in it, but John was worth it. "But at least now I know I don't have to worry about you anymore." At John's raised eyebrows, he mischievously explained. "If you don't take care of yourself, I know Dorian will do the job for you."

"Don't tell me you gave him some directive to watch over me? Sandra already has him all up in my business even on my days off."

But Kirk wasn't showing any signs of repentance. "Someone's gotta be your keeper since I'm not around."

"Hey, I don't need a keeper," Kennex protested.

Jim started to tick off a list. "A keeper, a guardian angel, a counselor, a nutritionist…."

"Shut up," John laughingly directed, knew then and there that Jim might not be staying in town but he wasn't really going anywhere. They would always be friends, would always have each other back's when the need arose, would be the only family either of them had left.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

"Sandra, thank you," Jim earnestly offered to Captain Muldonado as they stood in her office.

But Sandra countered, "No, thank you for helping us prevent a deadly string of robberies in our city."

Kirk, however, stilled, rectified her assumption, "Not for letting me work the case, for Kennex. For getting John back on the force, giving him a way to feel good about himself again, for getting Dorian partnered with him. He's good for him, just like you knew he would be."

"You are too…in small doses," Sandra allowed with a taunting smile.

Kirk chuckled and hugged Sandra, wasn't prepared for her next words.

"He misses you. You should tell him why you left, can't come back."

Pulling away, Jim waved his hand dismissively in the air. "Nah. Things are good the way they are." Last thing he wanted was for John to feel guilty or responsible for his actions and their consequences.

With a nod, Sandra watched Jim scamper out of her office and silently wished him luck.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Dorian had watched Kirk enter the captain's office, had enough respect to not watch their exchange but did notice when Kirk walked out the door, was going to intercept the man but found that the detective was purposefully heading his way. Reading the man's features, Dorian surmised with a tone of shock, "You're leaving?" Thought for sure that Kirk was in there with the Captain requesting a transfer, that he was too attached to John, too worried about him to walk away from him again.

"Yup. Got my own city crime level to keep under control," Jim nonchalantly replied.

But Dorian wasn't buying his show of detachment, stepped closer and said lowly enough for only their ears. "But you miss John. I know that you do."

"Yeah, I do," Jim admitted, letting the sorrow spark in his gaze. "But we'll talk a couple times a month…like we have been doing."

"And that's enough?" sharp skepticism in Dorian's tone.

Jim let a sad smile play on his lips. "I'll take what I can get. Life changes…you gotta roll with the punches and see the good that comes from it."

Almost in apology, Dorian knowingly stated, "I know I'm where you want to be."

"Probably," Kirk conceded with a forced smile, "but you hold John back whereas he and I always just egg each other on to be more reckless. You keep him here, you keep him alive..and, as a bonus, you annoy him every change you get." Kirk's smile had become more real as he spoke. "Captain Muldonado's my new hero for siccing you on John." Then he offered his hand out to Dorian, like he hadn't done in their first meeting.

Dorian smiled, knew the gesture meant he had earned the man's trust. Shaking Kirk's hand, he vowed, "I'll keep John safe."

But Kirk scoffed at that. "Safe? Kennex?! Just keep him alive, that's good enough for me," then, with a pat on Dorian's back, he left the squad room, but not before giving a devilish wink to Stahl on his way out the door.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Dorian entered John's hospital room to find it empty of John and his bed, signaling that they had taken Kennex for some tests. Not one to waste his time uselessly, Dorian returned to the door and retrieved John's chart, began scanning it to learn John's progress. He almost guilty shoved it back in the slot on the door when a nurse headed for the room.

But she didn't reprimand him, instead greeted him with a knowing twinkle. "John said a friend would be stopping by."

Instantly Dorian ached for John, knowing that he was hoping for Kirk's presence and was being denied it. Would be disappointed that it was only him there to greet him when he was returned to the room. Told the nurse, "Oh,…I think his friend's left town already. Did John need something from him?" '_Like someone who wasn't a machine, who isn't a novice at emotions, who has always had his back without question, who has a past with him,' _Dorian mentally catalogued all Kirk could give to John that he couldn't.

The nurse, however, smiled at his assumption. "No, I'm pretty sure he meant he was expecting you."

Dorian's head tilted in curious confusion. "How can you tell?"

The nurse tapped on the medical chart in the door slot. "He said you'll intrusively scan his medical records, commandeer a chair in his room and not budge until he gets back and generally act like his mother."

The list of actions had Dorian smiling. "Don't tell him I read his chart."

Winking, the nurse agreed, "It'll be our little secret."

Then, true to Kennex's predictions, Dorian commandeered a chair in the room and waited for John's return.

AHAHAH

"See, just like I predicted," John bragged to the nurse at his side as his bed was rolled back into his room, went so far as to raise a finger to point to Dorian, who was settled in the chair like an immovable statue.

"Seems you had him pegged," the nurse agreed with an amused smile, kicking the locks on John's bed before she left the two cops alone.

Then there was a beat of awkward silence as the partners eyed each other up. Dorian was about to ask John how he was but John beat him to the punch line.

"You all patched up? You weren't looking so good at Rudy's," John remarked, inspecting Dorian critically for signs of any incomplete repairs to the damage Dorian had suffered when he decided to opt to be a pin cushion for a metal rod, a rod meant for John.

"Yes, all patched up," Dorian assured, almost fidgeted in his chair, didn't know how to have the conversation he wanted to have.

At Dorian's uncharacteristic reticence, John goaded, "What? No reprimands, no Monday morning quarterbacking about what I did wrong?"

Dorian's lips pressed into a thin line and his jaw jumped. "It's not what you did wrong, it's what I did wrong. I didn't sense Taffit and let the other bod distract me."

"_Distract you_? Is that a euphemism for stab-things-through-your-chest?" John caustically shot back, wasn't going to let Dorian downplay his actions, actions that had saved his life.

Dorian's eyes dropped to the floor and he almost mumbled, "I didn't stop you from offering yourself up to Taffit." Then he raised his remorseful gaze to John. "And I didn't have your back when you did. I let you down, John, and I am sorry. I'd understand if you wanted to trade me in for an MX."

"Trade you in?!" John nearly growled. "Dorian, you and Kirk are the reason I'm not dead right now."

"I'm the reason you're _hurt_," Dorian angrily corrected, his hands fisting. "If I hadn't been so caught up feeling hurt that you were mad at me, I would have realized someone was in Rudy's lab."

John let out a sigh. "Dorian, the thing about police work is that its our _job_ to walk into dangerous situations, mostly knowingly but sometimes unknowingly. It's what we do in that situation that defines us."

"Yes, and you got shot on my watch!" Dorian volleyed back, the anger all for himself.

"Not your watch, _our_ watch!" John just as vehemently amended, eyes locked on Dorian's. "I take responsibility for my actions, for my screw up. I didn't sense Taffit there until it was too late either. And let's play this another way, if I had entered the lab alone, even if I dodged Taffit's bullet, Taffit would have sicced his bot on me and, let me tell you, I wouldn't have fared as well as you did. I'm already down one limb, I'm not anxious to lose another."

"But…" Dorian began but John cut him off.

"Dorian, it was my _choice_ to surrender. It was my life that Taffit wanted to take. I wasn't going to let Rudy die in my place. It was my decision to take Belinda's life and I have to deal with the guilt and the consequences of that decision. If I can't…I shouldn't have come back on the force. Should resign right now."

"You're not resigning." Dorian forcibly declared, knew that he would rather be shipped off to NASA than do this job without Kennex.

"No, I'm not," John solemnly agreed. "I accept that Belinda's life had to be taken for my survival and for Kirk's, just like I accept that Taffit hated me for killing her and wanted me dead. What I couldn't accept was someone else dying in my place again, not Rudy, not Kirk…not you. My choices already got ten people killed that I cared about, I don't …I _can't_ cost anyone else their lives, Dorian." He drew in a deep inhale, knew that he needed Dorian to hear what he said next, to really hear it. "That's what I need from you, help to keep the people I care about safe, to make sure I don't make decisions that cost lives I can't bear to lose. I've faced death before this and that's not the worst thing…failing people who trust me is."

Dorian gave a very human exhale but earnestly nodded his head in agreement. He wouldn't let John suffer that pain again, not if it was in his power to spare him that. "But I'm here to keep you in one piece too, John. I don't let the odds and statistical data determine my actions, decide if a situation is winnable or not, if someone's life can be saved. I go on your gut instincts, on my feelings, on factors that can't be computed…" then a twinkle of mirth began to spark in his eyes, "….like your pigheadedness and your blatant disregard of my sound advice to take care of yourself."

John's lips quirked up into a smile. "Some of my finer points, if I have to say so myself."

"I wouldn't," Dorian denied but his tone was warm. "Some of your worst actually. Maybe I'm the one who should be requesting a new partner, an MX maybe."

"Right," John scoffed, "you freak out about their "lifeless eyes" and you couldn't stand bunking down in the basement with them. And more than that, none of them want to work with you."

"Well, that's what we have in common…no one wants to work with you either. If you weren't my one chance to still be a cop, I'd have put in a transfer request already. Maybe Kirk would like me to transfer to Philadelphia and partner with him."

"You and Kirk? Huh? That's like oil and water. You hated the guy since you met him and now you're bosom buddies?!" John challenged wondered when the two had gotten so chummy.

"Let's just say we found middle ground," Dorian unaccountably stated. Silently the DRN expanded to himself, "_We're both your family and would rather die than see you hurt."_

"What middle ground?" John challenged with disbelief.

Dorian made sure no hint of his internal merriment showed on his features as he expounded, "We both hate the way you drive. The switching lanes without signaling, the honking at slow cars…."

John scowled at the criticism. "I drive great. Now Kirk, he's a menace on wheels."

"I bet he is." Dorian placated, enjoyed the dark glare John sent to him before the man settled back more comfortably on the bed, was apparently letting the matter of his and Kirk's newfound friendship go.

With rare earnestness, John gratefully offered to Dorian, "Thanks for what you did in Rudy's lab. I saw you jump in front of me, take that rod in my place."

Dorian deflected Kennex's unneeded words of gratitude. "Statistically, my chances of surviving such a wound were 400% higher than yours…"

John smirked, knew an emotional cover up when he heard one. "Right. Statistically speaking."

Dorian matched John's expression even as he noticeably made himself more comfortable in the visitor's chair for the hours to come.

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" John asked, had expected Dorian's visit to be a hit and run event. That Dorian would see that he was Ok then head to the office, get back to the job he loved.

"Nope," Dorian replied, knew that he was right where he was meant to be.

"Ok," John accepted, wouldn't tell Dorian how welcome his company was, that staring at all four walls, rethinking the last time he was in the hospital wasn't great for his peace of mind. "Rudy doing OK?"

And Dorian thought that was just like John, to worry about others when he was lying in a bed, recuperating from a gunshot wound that had very nearly taken his life. Dorian reassured, "He's fine, John. Fact is, he's been asking to go on another undercover assignment. I think he's an action junkie…but wait, you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" he teased Kennex.

"I am a cop, not an action junkie. And don't compare me to Rudy. I'm a stellar undercover operator," Kennex boasted.

"Stellar?!" Dorian mocked with a snort. "You wore eyeliner and adopted a really bad Australian accent last time you were an "undercover operator". I think the captain put a reprimand in your file for bad acting."

But John wasn't deterred. "It was a New Zealand accent and I totally sold it. Just ask Stahl."

At that suggestion, Dorian chuckled. "Right…cause she so wasn't mimicking your accent after that and getting the whole squad room breaking up with laughter."

"I need new friends," Kennex petulantly grumbled.

"Sorry, no returns and no upgrades. You're stuck with the family you've got, John," Dorian shot back without thought. Froze when he realized what he had said, what he had claimed himself to be to John. Sat there immobile, waiting for the fallout from John's reaction.

John's eyebrows rose at Dorian's label. Family..that was what he and Kirk were, yeah, but he had never thought about the rest of his friends in that context, of how important they were to him. That he would trade his life for theirs any day of the week. And wasn't that what family was in a nut shell.

Dorian's trepidation didn't temper as he sensed John's surprise, wondered if he had crossed a line that he couldn't come back from, that Kirk might have thought John had adopted him…the rest of them as family but he had been wrong.

But then John's look softened and he gave Dorian one of his rare, real smiles. "Speaking of family, you might not know this but family goes the extra mile, sneaks in good coffee and a nice bowl of noodles into hospitals for each other."

"No," Dorian deadpanned even as he fought to conceal his contentment that John had deemed him his family.

"One cup of coffee," John whined but Dorian shut him down instantly.

"Not happening, John. But here's some yummy ice chips," Dorian drawled, grabbing the cup of ice from the bedside stand and offering it to John, who scowled and pushed Dorian's hand away.

"I'm not going to forget this," John grouchily threatened. "Next time your circuits go down, you get shot in the head, I'm not helping you. No bubble gum, no chop stick surgery. Nothing."

"Right, sure you won't," Dorian sarcastically shot back, knew that if there was one thing he knew about Kennex, it was that the man was tenacious in helping the people he cared about. "So, should I tell you the final scores in the basketball games you missed?"

"Do and die," John growled and Dorian smiled. If this was the way of families, he felt so blessed to have found his.

AHAHAHAHAH

THE END!

AHAHAHAHAH

Thanks for those reading and for the awesome and unwavering support of Pandora Jazz!

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.


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